“Today I read of the devastating loss a family is feeling after losing their child to cancer. So I count myself blessed.”
‘I will take the good AND bad to not feel the pain of losing you.’: Mom pens letter to her children
‘They used to fit between my elbow and fingertips, now they tower over me like gentle giants. They fill my soul as I watch them love and adore the partners they do life with.’: Mom shares the joys of raising boys
“They used to fill their pockets with rocks, sticks, flowers, and bugs. They used to sing me silly songs, tell fart jokes, and dance like goofballs. Now, they blow me away with their insight and wisdom. Now, they are strong enough to carry me on their back, both literally and figuratively.”
This Powerful ‘Calm Down’ Technique Transformed My Child’s Tantrums
“‘We’ll get some ice cubes and a spoon and stir them…’ Her yelling stopped so she could hear me a little better. ‘Come on,’ I continued. ‘We’ll need a bowl, or something to put the ice in.’ Just like that, her breathing slowed, her mind settled.”
‘Can you take a pair of siblings?’ 45 minutes later, we met our boys. Babies? Easy. Toddlers with trauma and neglect? Not so much.’: Couple adopt ‘forever sons’ from foster care
“Dakota was 2.5 years old and could barely utter just five words. Nate, 2.5 months old, was extremely sad and had rashes all over. He didn’t cry when he was hungry, wet, or had a poopy diaper because his biological mom had not met his needs. ‘Would you like to adopt them?’ Without hesitation, the answer was YES.”
‘We saw the beautiful face of a precious 2-year-old. It was as if our souls knew, deep down, she was ours. We said YES.’: Couple shares international adoption story, ‘It’s surreal’
“We were presented with an opportunity. For some reason, we felt hesitation in our gut. ‘Why wouldn’t we do this?’ Exactly one year later, God birthed a new dream.”
‘I’m a take out pizza kinda mom. My friends are meals-with-vegetables-waiting-in-the-freezer moms. All our kids are fed.’: Mom shares important reminder ‘we don’t have to parent the same to parent well’
“Just because I parent differently from another mom doesn’t mean either of us are doing it wrong.”
‘Looking at me, color left his face. ‘I’m going to get my mom!’: Woman shares postpartum trauma, ‘My growth as a mother has just begun’
“’I think you need to go into the hospital because I’m not sure what that is!’ A huge chunk of flesh was sticking out of me. It felt worse than giving birth.”
‘My daughter is 4 and a half, and she’s never called me mom.’: Autism mom shares ‘highs and lows’ of motherhood
“I’m crushed when other children ask her to play and she turns her back without a word. She may be a non-speaker, but she gives the tightest hugs and the biggest belly laughs.”
‘I’m so sorry. This isn’t fair.’ My tumor was the most beautiful gift I’d ever received.’: Brain cancer warrior says ‘I’m more alive than I’ve ever been’
“Despite professional success, I was miserable. I was clinically depressed, unhappy, and facing a failing marriage. My tumor was the most beautiful gift I’d ever received.”
‘The lives of these cherished friends were lost forever.’: Woman creates second chance business for plushies
“I’ll never forget the elderly lady who explained she’d not spent a day apart from her bedraggled-looking bears. She cried with joy when I showed her a photo of her beloved bears being hugged by two delighted girls and their smiling mother.”
‘We’ve got a baby who needs a home.’ I couldn’t take my eyes off him. His fingers curled around mine, like he already knew who I was.’: Mom shares ‘bittersweet’ fostering journey
“As soon as I took one look at the tiny baby, it was all over for me. I was in love. I’m a mom, so I know what a mother’s love feels like. I never expected to feel that kind of love for a complete stranger.”
‘What is that speck over there?’ The nurse practitioner saw 1 baby, then 2!’: Mom of multiples shares fertility journey, ‘It was ALL worth it’
“I wish someone recorded our faces. We had NO WORDS.”
‘You’re in the area to buy crack.’ I was alone on the side of the road, my beachball-sized belly hiding under my dress.’: Woman shares encounter with police officer, ‘I felt I didn’t belong’
“The whole situation, I was looking for any other reason for his behaviors outside of race. I didn’t want it to be race related. We never do. Ever.”
‘I opened my cooler and broke down in tears.’: Mom struggling to produce breast milk receives help from strangers on Facebook
“Hearing words like ‘life expectancy’ and ‘quality of life’ absolutely destroyed me. Within DAYS, my motherhood journey completely changed.”
‘This is my brown friend.’ I thought they weren’t overtly racist, so they couldn’t BE racist.’: Woman details growing up mixed race
“‘It’s OK, because you’re not one of THOSE,’ friends would say when racial slurs were used around me. I’m going to make sure my daughter is PROUD of her heritage.”
‘Your son got into trouble.’ I tried to stay calm.’: Dad shares how to parent an ’emotionally troubled child’
“‘The ‘cool’ guys made fun of me.’ My heart BROKE for my son. But I also encouraged him. He needed to understand it’s NORMAL.”
‘The doctor pulled up my MRI. ‘Are you sure you want to see it? It’s big.’ It was a fear I’d never felt before.’: Woman with brain cancer urges ‘love your body through the good and difficult’
“My migraines began with a small blurry spot. This blur got bigger and bigger until I couldn’t see anything. ‘Get to an emergency room now!’ I couldn’t believe my ears.”
No One Talks About The Messy Parts Of Miscarriage
“I remember thinking, ‘Why didn’t anyone tell me it would be like this?'”
‘I awoke to my husband’s screams. ‘Wake up, Kara isn’t breathing!’ In the blink of an eye, she was gone.’: Mom loses daughter to SIDS, starts foundation in her honor
“I’d never feel those soft baby hairs, the heat of her being alive. I’d never see her smile again. The pain was so severe I thought I’d die.”
‘Relax, it’s just an empty toilet roll.’ I carry the mental load for this family. I complete the invisible, thankless tasks no one wants to do.’: Stressed mom powerfully urges ‘please think of me’
“For me, it’s not just that one task, it’s one less thing on my list, one less thing on my mind. So, the next time you pull the last piece of paper off the roll, for once, please just think of me.”
‘A crowbar came through the windshield and struck him in the head.’ When he died, a bit of me died too.’: Grieving daughter turns to cooking therapy
“I was hungry to keep his legacy alive, starving for people to recognize my loss. The casseroles stop coming before the grieving has even begun.”
‘Would the gray hair accentuate every crinkle and wrinkle on my face?’ I hesitantly stepped forward into the magic.’: Pro-aging woman shares self-love journey
“We don’t need to look like we’re in our twenties… We’ve already been there, done that! We can be sexy and carefree while stepping into our second half of life.”
‘I got pregnant on a one-night stand with a guy I barely knew. I had zero respect for my body or myself.’: Woman shares celibacy journey, ‘I’m taking my body back’
“If I wanted to sleep with a man who wasn’t my boyfriend, I did just that. Sex became another drug for me. I drank to oblivion to erase the shame.”
‘Why do I feel the need to cover this up?’ I decided this was it. I went to the hairdresser, one last time.’: Woman embraces natural grays, ‘This journey is about more than hair’
“Just because a woman has grey hair doesn’t mean they have ‘let themselves go.’”
‘Are you willing to take in two more boys?’ They were filthy, skeletal. ‘We encourage you to bathe them immediately.’: Mom shares the beauty and heartbreak of foster care
“Along the way, many people have asked, ‘Why keep doing this? It’s painful.’ They need to know they are enough. They need to know they are worthy of safety and love. For every child we have loved and lost, we would do it all over again, in a heartbeat.”